Question
I went to a Police Commission hearing to file a complaint with the police department. I spoke from a prepared speech. No one did a thing. At the end of the meeting no one addressed my request for a proper complaint. I then asked the chief of police three times for a complaint. He had an officer escort me into an interrogation room. They took my contact information. No recording as required or the triplicate form.
I go online and to the Police Commission website and to my amazement the audio of the entire meeting is erased and inserted is a section of a City Council meeting.
I believe they have destroyed the true record of a public meeting.
Answer
It sounds like you are concerned with portions of the recording of a public meeting being erased/replaced with other content. If you are concerned that the body is tinkering with the recordings of public meetings this would seem to violate both the spirit and possibly the letter of the PRA and/or the Brown Act. You may consider bringing this to the attention of your elected officials and/or the district attorney.
If you are concerned that the wrong version of the public meeting recording was uploaded onto the website, you might consider requesting to view the recording of the public meeting. If the LAPD Police Commission meeting was the meeting of a legislative body subject to the California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, then you have a right to inspect the video recording under Government Code section 54953.5(b), which provides:
“Any audio or video recording of an open and public meeting made for whatever purpose by or at the direction of the local agency shall be subject to inspection pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1), but, notwithstanding Section 34090, may be erased or destroyed 30 days after the recording. Any inspection of an audio or video recording shall be provided without charge on equipment made available by the local agency.”
Even if the Brown Act doesn’t apply to the meeting, you should be able to request a copy of the recording under the California Public Records Act. Under the Act, public records — which include “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics,” Gov’t Code section 6252(e) – and would include a video recording of the meeting–are presumed to be open to the public and must be disclosed unless a specific provision of the Act or other law exempts them from disclosure.
You can find more information about the Public Records Act, including a sample request letter and a CPRA primer, on the FAC’s website.
Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.